Dellums Task Force, School District to Recruit Teachers

By Ken A. Epstein

Oakland for the first time in many years is making headway in placing experienced, talented and diverse teachers in the city’s classrooms, according to Oakland education leaders.
This critical arena of educational reform has long resisted the efforts of urban educators. But now the situation is being addressed, thanks to a collaboration of the Mayor’s Office, the school district and community leaders involved in one of the task forces initiated by Mayor Ron Dellums.
“What is different about what we are doing now is that there is a coalition that we built that involves all the different groups invested in school reform, a collaboration of the Mayor’s Office, the school district and the community,” said Dr. Kimberly Mayfield, Associate Professor of Education at Holy Names University of Oakland.
In 2007, the Effective Teachers for Oakland Task Force made several recommendations to Mayor Dellums on important issues, especially the need for all Oakland youngsters to have permanent, diverse, and effective teachers. Both the Mayor and school district accepted this recommendation and began working with the task force and teachers union.
As a result, the collaboration sponsored two Welcome to Teaching events at City Hall specifically focused on diverse, multilingual Oakland residents. More than 80 people attended.
The collaboration also raised money to assist prospective teachers with various needed steps to enter the teaching profession and linked them to local teacher preparation programs and the Oakland Unified  School District.
In addition, community members assisted the district with the creation a new teacher program dedicated to recruiting Oaklanders for the teaching profession.
Dr. Mayfield, who is one of the task force conveners, underscored the importance of the work of her task force and the collaboration.
“We are grappling with a most critical issue for urban schools,” she said.  “Oakland has higher teacher turn-over than the national average and a large part of the reason is the lack of local, diverse, teachers who will stay in the community because they are rooted here.
“This is an employment issue and an education issue for Oakland residents.  Our Task Force has been very successful because we made thoughtful recommendations and worked closely with the Mayor and the school district to implement them.
‘I am personally very appreciative of the fact that Mayor Dellums has been one of the first mayors in the country to work on this important issue.”
A prospective teacher named Valerie is one of those attended this year’s Welcome to Teaching event at City Hall.  Asked why she would consider teaching after working in the legal field, Valerie said that she has always been interested in teaching but she had incomplete information about the difficulties of becoming a teacher.
“After attending the event, it didn’t seem so difficult,” she said. “The Task Force, the Mayor’s office, and the school district are helping me through the process.”